The Snake and The Lion
by Ikajo
Summary: It's Harry's first year at Hogwarts. But this is not Harry's story. This is the story about two people who found each other, and love. They are part of the nameless, faceless, unknown crowd. Now they are given names, faces and voices. Stepping out from the background in to their very own story.
1. 1 A serpent's wishes

_Based on the books _Harry Potter_ created by _J.K. Rowling. _The main characters however is of my creation and therefore belong to me. I do however except suggestions. Pleas be aware that English is not my first language and therefore some errors in grammar might occur._

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><p>Everyday in life we pass people who become part of the background in the story about ourselves. In books, background figures is part of a the tapestry that the authors create. We only know them as categories. Faceless, nameless. What we should never forget is that every person carries their very own story.<p>

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><p>He shivered as the fingers traced his skin lightly, buried against his bare chest the face of his lover. His fingers combed through the golden hair, it always reminded him of the fiery sun at dawn with the rich, waving colours. Maverick looked up on him and smiled broadly. He slipped his arms around the shoulders and placed a longing kiss on the others lips. Daleus glanced at the strong neck of his lover. Despite being only fifteen he had big and well defined muscles. The big, warm hands of Maverick pressed against his skin, finding their way along the line of his spine. Daleus let go of his lips and buried his face in the golden hair.<p>

The Room of Requirement. The most non-secret secret room in whole castle of Hogwarts, a place to hide that stinkbomd used in a prank. Or a place to meet you lover where no one could see them. They had been dating since their third year, sometimes Daleus couldn't bear the thought of spending three more years at Hogwarts before graduation. He pointedly ignored to two robes carelessly discarded on the floor beside them. The robes were both black. One had a trim in a deep red, the other a in a dark green. Yes, he very much wished this could be his last year of Hogwarts already.

A light chiming sound seemed to come from the high ceiling and filled the room. Daleus gracefully rose and slipped of the bed onto the bare stone floor. He had the one to figure that it would be a good idea to have the Room tells them when a certain amount of time had passed. He bent down to pick up his robe, stopped and picked up Maverick's instead. With a smooth motion he draped it around his shoulders, turned to his lover as he climbed down from the bed.

"What do you think?" he said. "Don't you think it suits me?" Maverick laughed and swept Daleus robe from the floor.

"I think any colour would suit you", he answered. "That's not what's important." He took the red trimmed robe from Daleus shoulder and replaced it with the one with dark green trim. Spiteful he slipped his arms inside the fabric, looking disdainful at the green trim. How many times had he wished he had the courage to ask the Sorting Hat to be put in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin? According to Maverick, that was the only way to be sorted in to Gryffindor. He figured it made a lot of sense. Courage was not something you were but rather something you did after all. Daleus had figured that was made the Gryffindor such a jumbled bunch from the outset. All of them could have been Sorted into any of the other Houses but choose not to. Speaking of Sorting.

"I heard you got the new celebrity in your House", had it come from any other Slythering it might have come off as mockery. Maverick knew that it was a statement of simple curiosity.

"Yeah", he said. "It was kind of hard to miss. Given the reception." Daleus chuckled. Yes, the uproar had been very, very hard to miss.

"How is it? In the House?" Maverick shrugged.

"He's just a normal eleven year old kid. I actually pity him some. That's all I've bother to concern myself with."

Daleus looked at the empty space on the chest of Mavericks robe. He had been severely disappointed to learn that his lover had not been chosen as a Prefect. No one else could have fitted more. Maverick was kind, fair and didn't involve himself in petty arguments about what House was better or worse. He himself had not been chosen, of course, nor had he wished to be. In no way did he want to represent his House. Even less in a position of power.  
>A soft chiming drifted down again. They got dressed in haste, before leaving sharing the last kiss until they could meet again. In secret.<p>

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><p>The soft, early autumn light drifted from the large windows and the enchanted roof in the Great Hall. Slipping down beside the rest of the fifth years, Maverick glanced at the Slytherin table before shoveling food on to his plate. Early in the morning he had taken a run around the school ground, after taking a shower he was decidedly hungry. Again he glanced to Slytherin, Daleus was sitting in the corner on one end of the table. As far away as possible from the rest of his House as was possible without actually falling off the bench. He wouldn't like that. Despite all he was saying, Daleus could be rather prideful. Maverick had always found that pride very endearing.<p>

He knew that his boyfriend didn't particularly like being in Slytherin but no one could argue that he wasn't ambitious. Daleus intended to found his own wizarding school one day. Apparently, he wanted to place it Sweden, somewhere in the depleted northern part. With the almost white blond hair and blue eyes he certainly looked Scandinavian. His mother was from an old noble house somewhere in Scandinavia. That, at least, was what he had said.  
>Maverick ignored his classmates and hurriedly began eating breakfast; they had learned to not disturb him when eating. That was the only time he really hated to be bothered. That and when he spent time with Daleus. The guy was just such a delight. He suspected his fellow Gryffindors would have some opinions if they knew he thought that. Heck, if they knew he was dating someone from Slythering, they would choke. Thinking about Sweden and wizarding he <em>did<em> hope that he would be invited to co-found the school.

Daleus wanted a school where the student wasn't divided into different Houses or as he put, divided into different categories based on personality. He had decided it wasn't very fair and put an unnecessary rivalry between the students. The other big part he wanted was make a school which didn't ignore the muggle world. Maverick chuckled in his pumpkin juice. Yes, Daleus was a very ambitious person and a very unusual Slythering. In some ways that made him more suited for the House than any person in Hogwarts.


	2. A Lions Heart

The cool air hit his face as he sprinted along the frost covered grounds of the castle. As he passed by the border of the Forbidden Forest he waved at Hagrid who was out, cutting firewood to his kitchen fire. Another time Maverick might have stopped and either helped or giving his jaws a workout with the bread almost impossible to eat. Not today. When he had finished his run he had promised Daleus to meet in the Room of Requirement, eating breakfast together. It was after all Sunday. Most students were still sleeping. He preferred it that way. Not that anyone paid any attention to him, not anymore at least. Some students from Slytherin might laugh at him when they saw him laboring on the ground. Even that didn't bother him.

Finally he came to a halt in front of the castle, stretching while watching the glittering lake longingly. He sometimes imagined how it would be like to swim in that icy, dark, water. As of yet, he hadn't. Upon discovering the various critters living in the water he had decided to keep even his toes on land. To be brave was one thing; it was another thing to be stupid. Something many of his fellow Housemates had yet to discover. They all had a tendency to act reckless. Came with the House he supposed. Shrugging, he woke himself from his daydream and hurried to his date. He didn't want to be late.

To the occasion, a large window had opened in the wall, allowing the morning sun to spill all of its light into the room. Daleus sat on a pillow, not yet noticing him. The soft, blond hair curled softly in the nape of his neck, the light skin of his forearms exposed. A mat was laid out on the floor, on it a feast. He had to remember thanking the house elfs later, this had been quite a feat.

Maverick tip-toed and slid down on the pillow on the other side, Daleus glanced at him, unsurprised. He simply filled to goblins with pumpkin juice and handed one to him. They lifted the goblins and tock a deep drink.

_What a marvel_, Maverick thought. _There are actually something even more enjoyable than eating or being with Daleus_.

Daleus leaned over and brushed his lips against his cheek before picking up one of the small tarts. With small bites, the tart was gracefully eaten.

"What?"

"Just thinking I wished I was that tart."

"Don't be stupid. A tart last a moment. You last a lifetime."

That was just like him, Maverick mused. Any other person would have been embarrassed saying that kind of words. Daleus took it with stride. That was another thing he really loved about him. Anyone who said you couldn't find real love in their teens had never fallen in love with Daleus Sareon.

"Everything is still going steady in your House?" Daleus asked lightly, as if making polite conversation.

"Business as usual", Maverick said, borrowing the term from his father. "Loud, rowdy and the first years complaining about professor Snape being unfair." Daleus grimaced at the mention of his Head; his mouth twisted in distaste. "Oh, and we have a first year as a Seeker."

"I heard, the famous Harry Potter", Daleus tone was neutral, uninterested. "Pity that the pesky little rat Malfoy didn't get expelled despite breaking the rules. Guess they couldn't award Potter and punish that rat when they had done the same thing."

Maverick mused. He did that a lot with Daleus. "It seems you are not in very much awe of Malfoy then."

"In awe? Call it utterly disgusted. He is so convinced of his own perfection that it's ridiculous. Everything he can't do is because someone is working against him rather than him not doing a big enough effort."

"Sounds like most of Slytherin."

"This one is at least ten times worst."

That did sound like a pain in the ass. Maverick had heard about the incident, a very excited Wood had talked about it in between classes. Apparently the boy had caught some small object from a very long distance, sitting on a broomstick. Only, he wouldn't had been sitting on a broomstick hadn't another boy stolen something belonging to yet another boy. And one of them seemed to have been this Malfoy Daleus was fuming over. _Oh, Hogwarts_, Maverick thought. That seemed to be the only expression that fitted. Only at Hogwarts. He leaned over the feast, touched the cool skin with his fingers, brushing hair out of the way, pressing lips together. Idly he wondered if it was too cold to take his robe off. It was tempting.

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><p>Perched upon a ladder, book in knees, he ignored the glares from the other students in the library. Being Slytherin you either learned to be hated or made people fear you, and then become even more hated. If he had to be hated either way, it was much easier just accepting is as status quo and leaves it at that. Not that his fellow Housemates understood. It was like it had been rammed in to their heads all their life. Knowing no different way of thinking. That's why Daleus hated purists. One of the reasons. He had plenty of others. That and being the major condition to be placed in Slytherin. At least, that how he felt it.<p>

A First years Gryffindor stopped beside the bookcase on Daleus left and try to reach for a book. After she had jumped a few times Daleus had deducted which book she tried to reach. Wordless he pulled it out, ignoring the second of uncertainty in her eyes, and handed her the book. Her hair was big and curly, it actually looked kind of cute. She mumbled a 'Thank you' and hurried away. He didn't blame her. She matched the description of Hermione Granger, a muggleborn genius. According to Maverick, she had a hard time finding friends and fitting in her House. It didn't help that the first year Slytherins were a bunch of spoiled kids, rotten to the core.

Sometimes he felt like he was the only one in Slytherin who, for real, didn't care about pure blood. He knew about the war of course. That was the reason his mother had made them live in Sweden until approximately ten years ago. He had liked Sweden. The wizards there were not nearly as stuck-up as the British ones. Even now, he visited his kin every summer at least once. Some of them had even married muggles. Not his mother though. No, she had fallen in love with a wizard from the aristocrat of wizarding Britain and being a noble herself, getting married had been an easy thing. The downside was being an only child. His mother had a sister and he had cousins going to other schools but that was decidedly _not_ the same.

Then, Maverick was also an only child. As summoned by his name, the tall, muscular Gryffindor fifth year swept in to the library. Ruffling the head of some first years, exchanging some word with a Hufflepuff and some Ravenclaws, he carefully made his way towards Daleus. It was almost painful how well the robe fitted him. Together the golden hair and the red trim became the colours of Gryffindor. What wouldn't he do to stand beside him, wearing the same colours, joking about the upcoming quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. All while smiling together, knowing that neither cared even the slightest about the sport. But no, he was stuck in the most hated House, with the worst reputation and even the kindest of gestures was taken as mocking. He so was going to found his own school and then there wouldn't be even the slightest hint of Houses!

"Sareon", Maverick called and whistle. Daleus didn't even try to make an effort with his tone.

"What, Widgeron", he said in what should have been a neutral tone. He ignored the glares and muttered insults.

"Professor Sprout wanted it to be spread that the afternoon class is cancelled." Maverick tone was cheerful, almost silly and no one paid him any attention. Even more students glared at Daleus as to accuse him of causing a good guy to go out his way to inform something he could have found out by himself.

He didn't care. They didn't know. The Room of Requirement would get a visit in the afternoon.


End file.
